News
Macron gambles on snap elections to halt Far-Right March
By Francesca Hangeior.
This screen shot shows France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaking during a televised address to the nation during which he announced he is dissolving the National Assembly, French Parliament lower house, and calls new general elections on June 30, in Paris on June 9, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron has taken the biggest gamble of his political career by calling early legislative elections to combat the surge of the far right, with the outcome decisive for his political legacy.
France will go to the polls to vote for a new National Assembly on June 30, with a second round on July 7, Macron said in an address to the nation.
His stunning announcement came after EU election projections showed the far-right National Rally (RN) had scored more than double the votes of his centrist alliance in the French vote.
“The extreme gamble,” wrote Daily Liberation in the front-page headline of its Monday edition.
In his address to the nation, Macron noted that in total far-right parties in France had won almost 40 percent of the vote.
“It is a situation to which I cannot resign myself… I cannot act as if nothing had happened,” Macron added.
The presidential camp now just has three weeks to make up ground on the RN in a short but intense burst of campaigning before France hosts the Paris Olympics in July and August.
With turnout in the European elections projected in France at just over 52 per cent, Macron’s allies will be hoping to attract voters who stayed at home to block the far right.
In a best-case scenario for Macron, his centrist alliance would recover the absolute majority it lost in the 2022 legislative elections and give new impetus to the remaining three years of his presidential mandate.
The nightmare outcome for him would be the RN winning a majority. That would likely see its leader Jordan Bardella, a protege of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, become prime minister in an uncomfortable “cohabitation”.
A middle scenario, analysts say, would be an anti-extremism coalition between Macron’s centrists and the traditional right-wing Republicans or even left-wing Socialists.
Celine Bracq, director general of the Odoxa polling agency, described Macron’s announcement as a “poker move” at a time when there is a “strong desire on the part of the French to punish the president”.
“It’s something extremely risky,” she told AFP. “In all likelihood, the National Rally, in the wake of the European elections, could have a majority in the National Assembly and why not an absolute majority.”
Luc Rouban, political scientist at Sciences Po in Paris, said Macron wanted to “trap” the RN with his sudden election announcement, arguing the party would find trouble mustering quality candidates to challenge for the 577 seats in the National Assembly.
“I think Macron’s idea is to play on something with the right,” he added.
Speaking to AFP, ruling Renaissance party chief and Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne gave an indication of how the campaign could play out.
He said the party would not challenge outgoing MPs from the traditional left and right for their seats if they were prepared to “invest in a clear project” around the presidential majority.
Leaders of left-wing parties called on their camp to unite to face the RN challenge.
While the balance of power “has evolved”, Socialist party leader Olivier Faure called for “a gathering which allows us to have a project, which allows us to be heard by the French”, and Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel said the left should “work together on a pact for France”.
Across the political spectrum, Eric Zemmour, of the far-right Reconquete, called for “the broadest union of the right”.
Marion Marechal, who headed the party’s list in the EU elections, said she was “ready to meet in the coming days” with Le Pen, who is her aunt, Bardella and Republicans leader Eric Ciotti.
Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, said Macron had taken “a major gamble”.
“This is really him trying to seize the initiative,” he told AFP.
“There is a serious risk of cohabitation”, he added, referring to a situation in which a president and prime minister from opposing political parties have to find a way to run the country together.
“The most likely outcome is more fragmentation, more deadlock and chaos. A complete paralysis.”
By Francesca Hangeior
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, AGF, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has canvassed for greater efforts and commitments to the Federal Government’s aspirations to produce a workable legal framework for the country.
He charged the Committee put in place by the federal government to review, revise and consolidate the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN, to double the efforts and commitments to deliver on the mandate at the appointed time.
Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, spoke on Monday in Abuja at the second retreat of the Committee put in place in October last year for the laws of the federation revision and reform.
The AGF while challenging the committee to be up and doing asked the members to remain united in purpose and steadfast in the resolve to produce a legal framework that is worthy of the nation’s aspirations.
He said the second retreat organized by the federal government was a strategic consolidation of the national law reform efforts and to provide an invaluable opportunity to come up with a better workable legal framework for the nation.
“Let me start by expressing gratitude to the Chairman, Co-Chairperson and members of the Committee for their selfless service and sacrifice, to ensure that this project is executed efficiently and effectively.
“The call to be part of this assignment is indeed a sacred that inevitably and positively affects the lives of individuals, government, businesses as well as citizens of this nation.
“The general purpose of law is to regulate human behavior by protecting lives and properties in society. The inauguration of the Committee on the 24th October, 2024 marked a historic milestone in our collective efforts to modernize, consolidate, and harmonize Nigeria’s body of federal statutes.
“The retreat successfully provides a clear framework for the structure and methodology of the revision exercise, oriented the 14 Working Groups tasked with reviewing specific legal subject areas, and fostered collaboration among key institutions and stakeholders on the project.
“Following the initial retreat, I wish to note that the Committee has recorded steady progress in its work.
“The Ministry has taken several measures to ensure that the assignment is delivered efficiently, including:training sessions for secretaries of the working groups to enhance documentation and coordination; technical meetings of the main committee and its various sub-committees; working sessions and deliberations among editors and reviewers; and ongoing technical collation of revised laws by the Secretariat.
“This second retreat is a strategic consolidation of our national law reform efforts and provides an invaluable opportunity to: review progress made since the first phase;
address any technical or structural challenges encountered during the collation process;
– Harmonize the output across working groups; and set the tone for the final stages of this important project.
“The next stage of the law review and consolidation process would include editing and proofreading the reviewed legislation, ahead of the final collation, production and printing of the laws of the federation.
“It is my conviction that these phases will be executed with even greater commitment by the Committee, with the support of stakeholders and development partners.
“I wish to commend the leadership of the LFN Committee, the Secretariat for its diligent coordination and day-to-day management as well as the Working Groups, Editors, and Reviewers, for their intellectual rigour and professionalism.
“Special gratitude to our development partners, particularly RoLAC, for standing firmly behind this national project.
“Let me urge all participants to use this retreat as a platform for robust engagement, peer learning, and practical collaboration.
“We must remain united in purpose and steadfast in our resolve to produce a legal framework that is worthy of our nation’s aspirations.
” I wish to express gratitude for your commitment to duty and I charge you to work in synergy and cooperation, in the overall interest of the nation”, the AGF said.
The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has replied to the Nigerian Bar Association regarding the reason for relocating its Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu State.
Ibas faulted the reason cited by the NBA, describing it as misleading and uncharitable.
The Sole Administrator stated this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday by his media aide, Hector Igbikiowubo, and sent to newsmen.
He said while the NBA reserves the right to choose a venue for its conference, the association had yet to address the issue of the refund of the hosting rights paid by the state government for the conference.
The statement partly reads, “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that the association—despite its “principled position”— didn’t address the refund of the N300 million already paid by the Rivers State Government for the hosting rights of the 2025 conference.
“If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should demonstrate the same integrity by promptly returning these funds rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits.”
It added, “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the Nigeria Bar Association’s announcement dated 10th April 2025, relocating its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.
The statement partly reads, “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that the association—despite its “principled position”— didn’t address the refund of the N300 million already paid by the Rivers State Government for the hosting rights of the 2025 conference.
“If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should demonstrate the same integrity by promptly returning these funds rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits.”
It added, “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the Nigeria Bar Association’s announcement dated 10th April 2025, relocating its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.
By Francesca Hangeior
The Federal Government has unveiled the second phase of its contactless biometric passport application system across its four missions in United States, Mexico, Jamaica and Brazil.
The Nigeria Immigration Service NIS disclosed this in a tweet on its ‘X’ handle signed by Service Spokesman, ACI AS Akinlabi.
The statement reads; “ain continuation of the phased Roll-Out of the Contactless Biometric Passport Application System across Nigerian Missions abroad, the Nigeria Immigration Service under its
Comptroller General, Kemi Nanna Nandap wishes to inform the General public especially Nigerians in the Diaspora that it is implementing the next stage of the roll-out across the following countries.
“The Application System, which is currently available on Google Play Store (NIS Mobile), is designed to allow Nigerians to renew their passports without visiting any Passport Centre for Biometrics enrollment. The Apple Store version will be onboarded shortly and an enhanced version of the NIS Mobile App for both Android and iOS users will be deployed to further improve users’ experience and accessibility.
“With this roll-out, the Service further informs the General public that the Contactless Passport App is now available in Canada, the USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Europe, and Asia. It is yet to be rolled out in Australia and Nigeria, a future date will be announced for both countries in due course.
“The Service remains committed to innovative and efficient Service Delivery to Nigerians anywhere in the world”.
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